PSYC 1121 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Reinforcement, Operant Conditioning, Signify
Document Summary
Most human activity is acquired by learning and is often quite skilled; not readily explained by classical conditioning. Reinforcement explains the vast array of acquired behavior that is not due to classical conditioning. History of reinforcement is often called reinforcement contingency . Operant behavior: acquired, voluntary behavior that produces the reinforcer. Reinforcer: thing that maintains the behavior; can be virtually anything. Can arrange contingencies to produce behavior you want. Individuals are a reflection of their reinforcement history. All behavior can be attributed to reinforcement contingencies. Individuals shouldn"t take responsibility for successes and failures because they have limited free will (behavior controlled by reinforcement history) Idea that voluntary acts are activities that are susceptible to reinforcement. E. g. an individual cannot be persuaded to not blink in defense. Reinforcement schedules formalize a reinforcement history (contingency): Temporal requirement: response after x amount of time since the last reinforcer earns a reward (x can be variable or fixed)
